Becky Hammon
Rebecca Lynn "Becky" Hammon (born March 11, 1977) is a professional basketball player currently under contract with the San Antonio Silver Stars of the WNBA. Early life Becky is the daughter of Martin and Bev Hammon, She has one brother, Matt and one sister, Gina. Becky played high school basketball at Stevens High School in her hometown of Rapid City, South Dakota. As a junior, she was South Dakota Miss Basketball. As a senior, she was voted the South Dakota Player of the Year after averaging 26 points, 4 rebounds and 5 steals per game. College career Hammon had a distinguished career at Colorado State. Her prolific scoring made her an All-American as well as Colorado Sportswoman of the Year. She led her team to a 33-3 record in the 1998-1999 season and helped them advance to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet Sixteen. She was the WAC Mountain Division player of the year for the 1998-1999 season and surpassed University of Utah player Keith Van Horn as the WAC's all-time leading scorer. Hammon set many Colorado State all-time records, including points (2740), points per game (21.92), field goals made (918), free throws made (539), three-point field goals made (365) and assists (538). She received the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award from the Women's Basketball Coaches Association as the best senior player under 5 ft 8 in (1.7 m) in 1999. On November 12, 2004, Becky Hammon was inducted into the Colorado State University Sports Hall of Fame. On January 22, 2005, her #25 Colorado State jersey was retired at the Moby Arena. Professional career in South Dakota, February 2002.|180px|left]] Undrafted during her rookie season, Hammon was signed to the WNBA on May 12, 1999 and joined the New York Liberty. She had a surprisingly solid rookie season statistically, backing up starting point guard Teresa Weatherspoon. Her aggressive play at both ends of the court made her a favorite among Liberty fans. After the 2003 season, Hammon took over for Teresa Weatherspoon as the Liberty's starting point guard and along with Vickie Johnson and Crystal Robinson, became one of the team's co-captains in 2004. In her first season in 2003 with the Tennessee Fury of the NWBL (National Women's Basketball League), Hammon led the league in scoring, averaging 20.6 points per game. In 2004, Hammon signed with the Colorado Chill, a new team to the NWBL, but played in only 2 games because of a knee injury she sustained in the 2003 season when playing for the New York Liberty. Primarily used to provide instant points off the bench, Hammon finally had a breakout season in 2003, providing much-needed offense for the Liberty. However, her season was cut short by a knee injury. On August 16, 2005, Hammon scored her 2000th WNBA career point. At the end of the 2005 season, she was named to the All-WNBA Second Team. In January 2007 she played her WNBA "off season" with Rivas Futura in the Spanish League On April 4, 2007 during the WNBA Draft, Becky Hammon was traded to the Silver Stars along with a second round draft pick in the 2008 draft for the second overall first round pick in the 2007 WNBA Draft, center Jessica Davenport. Hammon had her best season of her career in 2007 posting career high averages of 18.8 ppg (fourth best) and 5.0 apg (first in WNBA). While in San Antonio, Hammon earned the nickname, "Big Shot Becky" because of her ability to hit shots in clutch moments. It comes from the nickname "Big Shot Rob" given to San Antonio Spurs forward, Robert Horry. Becky averaged 17.6 ppg, and 4.9 apg as she led the Silver Stars to a WNBA best record 24-10 and led them into the playoffs for a second straight year. In the conference semi finals, Becky scored 30 pts in a Game 1 win against the Sacramento Monarchs. They would eventually win the series and advance to the conference finals. San Antonio would lose the first game to the Los Angeles Sparks led by Lisa Leslie and Candace Parker. In Game 2, Sophia Young hit a buzzer beater shot at the end of regulation and stave off elimination as they beat the Sparks 67- 66. The San Antonio Silver Stars won the Western Conference championship and advanced to the WNBA finals where they were swept by the Detroit Shock. Becky averaged 19.5 ppg, her career average, and 5.0 apg in the 2009 WNBA season. The San Antonio Silver Stars had a record of 15-19 and lost to the eventual champion Phoenix Mercury, in the first round. Becky was an All-Star as well as a First Team All WNBA. WNBA career statistics Regular season |- | align="left" | 1999 | align="left" | New York | 30 || 1 || 6.7 || .422 || .289 || .882 || 0.6 || 0.6 || 0.2 || 0.0 || 0.80 || 2.7 |- | align="left" | 2000 | align="left" | New York | 32 || 16 || 26.1 || .472 || .369 || .884 || 2.0 || 1.8 || 0.9 || 0.0 || 1.94 || 11.0 |- | align="left" | 2001 | align="left" | New York | 32 || 0 || 19.3 || .457 || .378 || .784 || 1.6 || 1.6 || 0.8 || 0.0 || 1.50 || 8.2 |- | align="left" | 2002 | align="left" | New York | 32 || 1 || 20.6 || .442 || .386 || .679 || 2.1 || 1.7 || 0.8 || 0.0 || 1.72 || 8.0 |- | align="left" | 2003 | align="left" | New York | 11 || 2 || 23.4 || .575 || style="background:#D3D3D3"|'.469' || style="background:#D3D3D3"|.951 || 1.9 || 1.6 || 0.9 || 0.1 || 2.45 || 14.7 |- | align="left" | 2004 | align="left" | New York | 34 || 34 || 33.2 || .432 || .335 || .836 || 3.5 || 4.4 || 1.7 || 0.1 || 3.7 || 13.5 |- | align="left" | 2005 | align="left" | New York | 34 || 34 || 34.7 || .432 || .365 || style="background:#D3D3D3"|.901 || 3.4 || 4.3 || 1.8 || 0.1 || 3.15 || 13.9 |- | align="left" | 2006 | align="left" | New York | 22 || 20 || 30.8 || .425 || .343 || style="background:#D3D3D3"|'.960' || 3.0 || 3.7 || 1.3 || 0.1 || 2.95 || 14.7 |- | align="left" | 2007 | align="left" | San Antonio | 28 || 26 || 33.4 || .445 || .404 || style="background:#D3D3D3"|.931 || 2.8 || 5.0 || 0.8 || 0.2 || 4.07 || 18.8 |- | align="left" | 2008 | align="left" | San Antonio | 33 || 33 || 33.4 || .390 || .350 || .937 || 2.8 || 4.9 || 1.3 || 0.2 || 3.15 || 17.6 |- | align="left" | 2009 | align="left" | San Antonio | 31 || 31 || 33.8 || .447 || .369 || .901 || 3.3 || 5.0 || 1.6 || 0.4 || 3.58 || 19.5 |- | align="left" | 2010 | align="left" | San Antonio | 32 || 32 || 33.6 || .442 || .390 || style="background:#D3D3D3"|'.960' || 2.9 || 5.4 || 1.1 || 0.2 || 3.38 || 15.1 |- | align="left" | 2011 | align="left" | San Antonio | 33 || 33 || 31.8 || .440 || .389 || .892 || 2.9 || 5.8 || 1.5 || 0.2 || 3.61 || 15.9 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" |13 years, 2 teams | 384 || 263 || 28.0 || .439 || .372 || .895 || 2.6 || 3.6 || 1.2 || 0.1 || 2.77 || 13.3 Postseason |- | align="left" | 1999 | align="left" | New York | 6 || 0 || 8.3 || .167 || .222 || 1.000 || 0.2 || 0.8 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 1.00 || 2.0 |- | align="left" | 2000 | align="left" | New York | 7 || 7 || 29.4 || .429 || .304 || .895 || 1.4 || 2.1 || 1.3 || 0.0 || 2.43 || 9.4 |- | align="left" | 2001 | align="left" | New York | 6 || 0 || 8.0 || .353 || .300 || .000 || 0.5 || 0.3 || 0.2 || 0.0 || 0.50 || 2.5 |- | align="left" | 2002 | align="left" | New York | 8 || 0 || 22.9 || .537 || .424 || .875 || 2.1 || 2.0 || 0.6 || 0.0 || 1.38 || 9.9 |- | align="left" | 2004 | align="left" | New York | 5 || 5 || 35.6 || .392 || .333 || .400 || 2.6 || 3.4 || 1.2 || 0.0 || 3.80 || 10.6 |- | align="left" | 2005 | align="left" | New York | 2 || 2 || 38.0 || .450 || .286 || 1.000 || 3.5 || 2.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 5.00 || 11.5 |- | align="left" | 2007 | align="left" | San Antonio | 5 || 5 || 35.0 || .413 || .444 || .800 || 2.8 || 5.0 || 1.2 || 0.2 || 3.20 || 20.8 |- | align="left" | 2008 | align="left" | San Antonio | 9''' || '''9 || 36.8 || .421 || .458 || .895 || 2.3 || 4.6 || 1.0 || 0.6 || 3.44 || 18.1 |- | align="left" | 2009 | align="left" | San Antonio | 3 || 3 || 33.7 || .463 || .381 || .900 || 2.7 || 2.0 || 1.7 || 0.0 || 2.33 || 18.3 |- | align="left" | 2010 | align="left" | San Antonio | 2 || 2 || 37.0 || .393 || .389 || 1.000 || 3.5 || 5.5 || 0.5 || 0.0 || 4.00 || 20.0 |- | align="left" | 2011 | align="left" | San Antonio | || || || || || || || || || || || |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" |11 years, 2 teams | 53 || 33 || 26.8 || .425 || .389 || .884 || 1.9 || 2.7 || 0.8 || 0.1 || 2.42 || 11.5 Olympics After learning that, once again, she would not be invited to try out for the United States women's national basketball team, Hammon announced she would try to claim a roster slot on the Russian national team in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. Hammon became a Russian citizen in 2008. The coach of Russia's team, Igor Grudin, is also the sports director of the CSKA team that Hammon plays for in Moscow during the WNBA off-season. The announcement that she would participate in camps for the Russian national team came the same day that it was also announced that national team player (and CSKA teammate of Hammon's) Olga Arteshina had become pregnant. Hammon also signed a three-year extension with the CSKA team at around the same time she was named as a prospect for the national team. Hammon's decision to play for Russia would prove controversial back in her home country. In some circles, she was branded an American traitor, with even then U.S. national basketball coach Anne Donovan questioning her patriotism. "If you play in this country, live in this country, and you grow up in the heartland and you put on a Russian uniform, you are not a patriotic person in my mind," Donovan said. Hammon responded to Donovan's criticism saying, "You don't know me. You don't know what that flag means to me. You don't know how I grew up. The biggest honor in our classroom was who could put up the (American) flag, roll it up right, not let the corners touch the ground. Obviously we definitely define patriotism differently." She has also stated. "I love my country. I love our national anthem. It absolutely gives me chills sometimes. I feel honored to be an American, to be from America because of what we stand for." Hammon claimed she only played for Russia to play on the Olympic stage, and it was not a purely financial decision. Although by obtaining Russian citizenship, her salary with CSKA tripled, and she was eligible to make $250,000 for winning a gold medal for Russia. She would have received a $150,000 bonus for winning a silver medal. Hammon shot 1-for-6 from the field in a 67–52 loss to the United States in the 2008 Olympic Semifinals, but helped the Russian team to win the bronze medal, by scoring 22 points against China. NWBL Basketball * Tennessee Fury - 2002-2003 * Colorado Chill - 2004 - 2006 International Basktball Many WNBA players head overseas to play basketball during their WNBA Off-season * Trentino Rovereto Basket (2001–2002) * Rivas Ecópolis (2006–2007) * CSKA Moscow (2007–2009) * Ros Casares Valencia (2009–2010) * Orenburg (2010-2011) * Spartak (2011-2012) Awards and achievements * 8 - WNBA All-Star Game (2003/2004/2005/2006/2007/2009/2010/2011) 2005 * Colorado State University retired Becky's jersey * Won the NWBL Championship with the Colorado Chill * Named to All WNBA 2nd Team 2006 * Won 2nd NWBL Championship with the Colorado Chill * Named NWBL MVP 2007 * Won World League Championship with CSKA * Named to All WNBA 1st Team 2008 * Led the San Antonio Silver Stars to the best record in the WNBA and to San Antonio's first ever Western Conference Championship. * Made the Guinness World Record for Most Free Throws Made in a Minute (women’s category) after hitting 38 of 42 attempts in the allotted 60 seconds on Saturday, Feb. 16, at the NBA All-Star Jam Session. * Voted into Euroleague All-Star Game * Won the Cup of Russia with CSKA * Silver Medalist in the Russian League Championships * Won the 2008 Haier Shooting Stars Competition along with David Robinson and Tim Duncan * Chosen as Athlete of the Year by the Rapid City Journal * Named to All WNBA 2nd Team 2009 * Voted into the EuroLeague All-Star Game * Won the EuroLeague All-Star 3 Point Shoot Out * Voted into the WNBA All-Star Game * Won the WNBA All-Star Game 3 Point Shoot Out * Named to the All WNBA 1st Team 2010 * Voted into the 2010 EuroLeague All-Star Game (Did not play) * Won the 2010 Haier Shooting Stars Competition at the NBA All-Star Weekend with Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Smith * Inducted into the South Dakota High School Basketball Hall of Fame * Named to the WNBA All-Star Game (Did not play due to injury) 2011 * Named to the WNBA's exclusive Top 15 Players of All Time list References See also *Photo Gallery - Photos featuring Category:Born in 1977 Category:American women's basketball players Category:Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Category:Colorado State Rams women's basketball players Category:New York Liberty players Category:Olympic basketball players of Russia Category:Olympic bronze medalists for Russia Category:Point Guards Category:Russian women's basketball players Category:San Antonio Silver Stars players Category:Olympic medalists in basketball